Coking retort oven



June 4, 1935. .1. BECKER COKING RETORT OVEN Filed Jap. 26, 1931 3Sheets-Sheet l Q INVENTOR.

dosof'? Sec/fen BY June 4, 1935. J, BECKER 2,003,574

GOKING BETORT OVEN Filed Jan. 216, 1931 3 SheetS-Sheet 2` f. /vefws ofope/'ra June 4, 1935. J. BECKER 2,003,574

` coKlNG RETORT OVEN Filed Jan. 2e, 1931 s sheets-sheet Josep/7 225A/95.

Patented June 4, 1935 UNITED STATES ooKING mrronr OVEN Joseph Becker,

OHara Township, Allegheny County, Pa., assigner to The Koppers Companyof Delaware, a corporation of Delaware Application January 26, 1931,Serial No. 511,143

2 Claims.

My invention relates to coking retort ovens and particularly tohorizontal coke ovens of the crossover type.

My present invention is closely related to the 5 subject-matter of myPatent No. 1,704,239, dated March 5, 1929, and my copending applicationsSerial Nos. 225,451, filed October 11, 1927, and 541,889, filed June 3,1931. The present application is a continuation-in-part of my aforesaidapplication Serial No. 225,451, which is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Serial No. 33,811, filed May 29, 1925, resulting in theaforesaid Patent No. 1,704,239.

In the operation of coking retort ovens, it is desirable to arrange theseveral conduits for conveying the several gases in such manner thatthere will be no counterflow between fuel gas and gases of combustion orwaste gases in order to reduce the tendency for leakage therebetween. Itis particularly desirable to prevent counteriiow between rich gas, suchas coke-oven gas, and the Waste gases.

It has been customary heretofore to supply heating walls of coke ovensof the crossover type with rich gas by means of gas guns which projectedhorizontally through the intermediate or horizontal brickwork betweenthe bottoms of theI oven chambers and the tops of the regenerators.

It has been proposed heretofore to employ vertical conduits for rich gasfor certain types of ovens but it has not been possible to eliminatecounterow between these conduits and some of the immediately adjacentregenerators where the reversal of flow occurs transversely of theheating walls. This condition is particularly true in case all of theflues of certain of the heating walls are supplied with combustiblemedia simultaneously.

In accordance with the present invention, I provide a horizontalcoke-oven structure of the type wherein adjacent heating walls areconnected in pairs by connecting their ame iiues or combustion hues inseries by means of crossover iiues extending over the top of theintervening oven chambers. The foundation of the battery comprisessupporting pillars that are of sufcient height to provide passagewaysbeneath the-battery that are accessible to the operators for adjustingor regulating the fuel supply when rich 50 gas is used.

I provide two rows of crosswise regenerators beneath each heating wall,each regenerator extending substantially half the width of the battery.Each regenerator is connected to the flame :dues oi the heating Wallthat are directly above the regenerator. In other Words, each flame ueis connected to a regenerator in each of the rows beneath the heatingwall.

Rich gas, such as coke-oven gas, is supplied to each of the ame uesthrough gas guns and 5 vertical conduits that extend from a pipe orheader beneath the battery upward through the partition walls betweenthe regenerators of the two rows beneath each of the heating walls.

The foregoing arrangement permits the locai0 tion of theValve-controlling means for rich gas beneath the battery at pointsreadily accessible for adjustment and, at the same time, permits thearrangement of the vertical conduits in such manner as to prevent anycounterilow between 15 them and the Waste gas conduits.

When rich gas is supplied to one of the heating walls of each pairthrough the' Vertical conduits, the regenerators on both sides '0f theconduits supply air to the same combustion flues and, 20 accordingly,the flow of gas is concurrent with that of the air in the adjacentregenerators. The regenerators connected to the other heating Wall ofeach pair conduct waste gases from the heating nues to which they areconnected but the 25 conduits for rich gas between these regenerators donot supply gas during this period. Accordingly, there is no counterflowbetween these conduits.

The details of my invention will be described in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in 30 which Figure 1 is a transverse verticalsectional view of a coking retort oven constructed in accordance with myinvention and taken partially on line A--A and partially on line B-B ofFig. 2; 35

Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinal vertical section of the coke-ovenbattery of Fig. 1, taken partially on line C-C and partially on line D Dof Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional View of one of the verticalconduits for rich gas and cer- 40 tain of the associated structure; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on line IV--IV ofFig. 3 of a portion of the coke-oven structure illustrating thearrangement of the rich gas conduits.

Referring to the drawings, a coke-oven battery l comprises a series ofhorizontal oven chambers 2, which alternate with heating walls 3therefor. The battery is provided with a top d having charging holes 5extending therethrough by 50 means of which the oven chambers 2 may becharged with coal. Gas oltake openings 6 also extend through the topBeneath the horizontal or intermediate brickwork l, which is below theoven chambers 2 and 55 heating walls 3, are rows of crosswiseregenerators 8, each row comprising two regenerators which extendapproximately half the width of the battery. 'Ihe battery structure issupported upon a foundation comprising a pad 9, pillars I0, and a baseII which may be of concrete. This arrangement provides passageways forconvenient access to the bottom portion of the battery structure.

Each of the regenerators 8 is provided with a sole flue I2, to which isconnected a reversing box I3 for controlling the admission of producergas or air to the regenerators or the ow of waste gases therefrom. Aproducer gas main I4 supplies producer gas when the latter is used as afuel and a coke-oven gas main I5 that is located in a passageway beneaththe battery structure supplies coke-oven gas when the latter isemployed. Waste-gas mains I8 conduct waste gases from the battery totheusual stack (not shown).

Each heating wa1l`3 is provided with a series of vertical flame fiues orcombustion flues I8 that are connected at their tops through ducts I9 totwo horizontal flues 20. The horizontal fiues 20 of the respective wallsare connected lto similar horizontal flues 20 of an adjacent wall bymeans of crossover flues 2l, which, as best shown in Fig. 2, extendthrough the top 4 over the oven chamber 2 between the heating walls thusconnected in series.

The number of vertical flame fiues may be as desired, depending upon thelength of the heating wall and the number of crossover flues may bearranged in accordance with the requirements as to the distribution andequalizing of gases flowing therethrough.

Each regenerator 8 is connected by inclined ducts 22 to the flame fluesI8 immediately above it. Accordingly, each-name flue I8 is connected toboth of the side-by-side regenerators 8 below the corresponding heatingwall.

The arrangements for supplying the flame flues I8 with coke-oven gascomprise the coke-oven gas main I5 and a series of headers or pipes 24,

which extend transversely of the battery beneath each heating wall,respectively. A valve arm 25 controls the connections between the mainI5 and each of the headers 24.

The valve arms are periodically controlled by the usual reversingmechanism (not shown) to close the corresponding valves for one memberof each pair of heating walls and to open the valves for the otherheating walls. Y

Each header 24 is connected by means of vertical pipes or gas guns 26 tovertical conduits 21 that are connected to each ame flue I8 of theheating wall above the header. As shown in Fig. 2 and in enlarged detailin Fig. 3, each conduit 21 extends through the partition wall 28 ofsilica bricks for separating the two rows of regenerators beneath eachrheating wall. The co'nlnections between each header and the gas gunsconnected thereto are adjustable whereby the ow of gas to eachcombustion flue I8 may be individually regulated.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that each conduit is provided atits lower portion with a tubular lining 28 in two sections and which isof fire-clay, while the remaining portion of the conduit passes directlythrough silica bricks. The purpose of the provision of the fire-claylining is to protect the silica bricks at the bottom portion of the wallfrom relatively great temperature changes which occur when cool gasflows through the conduits after a period in which no gas flows therein.Such radical temperature changes may cause silica bricks to spall butfire-clay is not affected by such changes by reason of its relativelylow temperature coefficient. Above the three lower courses of silicabrick that are provided with the lining 29, the temperature of the gaswill be sufficiently high that such protection is unnecessary.

The upper end of the conduit 21 is provided with a nozzle 30 for thepurpose of maintaining substantially similar pressure conditions in eachof the conduits 21 and the adjoining regenerators in order to remove anytendency toward leakage therebetween. It is to be understood, however,that the nozzles 30 are not provided for purposes of regulation of thefuel supplied to the several ame flues since such regulation isaccomplished at the connections between the headers 24 and the gas guns26 beneath the battery.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the walls 28 are so constructed as tominimize the number of joints between the conduits 21 and the adjoiningregenerators 8. The conduits pass through silica bricks 32 which aresuperposed as shown in Fig. 3.

Silica bricks 33 and 34 are between the bricks 32 and the adjacentbricks are interlocked as shown to prevent displacement. Thisconstruction minimizes the number of joints in the walls 28 and providesthat only the horizontal joints between bricks 32 communicate with theconduits 21, all of the vertical joints occurring between bricks 32 ofadjacent conduits.

In the operation of the battery, when producer gas is used as a fuel,half of the inflow regenerators supply producer gas while the otherinflow regenerators supply air to each of the flame flues of one heatingwall of each connected pair of walls. The gases of combustion aretransmitted by means of the crossover flues to the flame flues I8 of theconnected wall and the regenerators connected thereto conduct wastegases therefrom in the usual manner. The direction of flow of gaseswithin the battery is reversed periodically in accordance with customarypractice.

When coke-oven gas is used as a fuel, it is supplied from the coke-ovengas main I5 to the headers 24 beneath one heating wall 3 of each pairconnected in series, the valves for the header 24 of the other wallbeing closed. All of the inflow regenerators convey air to the heatingwalls that are supplied with gas. Accordingly, regenerators on each sideof the conduits 21 that are supplying coke-oven gas supply air and theflow of gas and air is concurrent.

The regenerators that are connected to the other heating wall of eachpair convey waste gases but the conduits 21 therebetween carry nocoke-oven gas. Accordingly, there can be no counterflow in connectionwith the outflowing waste gases. When the flow of gases within thebattery is reversed by the usual reversing mechanism, the sameconditions obtain with respect to the relation of directions of flowbetween air and coke-oven gas and waste gases.

Each of the headers 24 is provided at the end not connected to the mainI5 with a decarbonizing air valve 36 controlledby an arm 31 that isconnected to the usual cable of the reversing mechanism. The air valves36 are arranged to be opened when the gas valves are closed to provide asupply of decarbonizing air to the ilame flues in which waste gases areflowing downwardly.

In case blast furnace gas or other gas of low thermal value is used as afuel and supplied through the main I4. the arrangement of the regas ductcommunicates, and the supplying means generators will be as describedabove for producer gas. That is, one row of regenerators beneath eachheating wall carries fuel gas and the other row conveys air to the flameflues above.

It may be desirable to enrich the fuel gas of low. B. t. u. value withother gas such as cokeoven gas and such arrangement is possible with myinvention. The conduits 21 between the rows of inflow regenerators forcarrying air and gas, respectively, may supply the desired amount ofrich gas without disturbance of the heating system. The flow ofcombustible media in the inflow regenerators, whether gas or air, isalways concurrent with the flow of the rich gas in the conduits betweenthe rows of inflow regenerators.

The arrangement of the vertical conduits for coke-oven gas in the wallsfor separating regenerators that carry air or air and fuel gas of lowthermal value in the same direction as the rich gas insures that therecan be no leakage between the coke-oven gas conduits and waste-gasconduits because there can be no counterflow therebetween.

While the numbers of oven chambers and heating walls shown in thedrawing are relatively small, such numbers are by way of example onlyand a battery embodying my invention may comprise any suitable ordesirable number of ovens and associated heating walls.

The foregoing and other advantages will be apparent to those skilled inthe art of constructing and operating coke ovens.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a coking retort oven battery, a series of alternate horizontalcoking chambers and heating walls therefor arranged side-by-side in arow, each of said heating walls comprising a series of vertical flameflues; cross-over flues communicably connecting the flame flues of eachof said heating walls in series with the flame flues of an adjacentheating wall so as to connect alternate and vintermediate heating wallsinto independently regulable heating flue systems; a supporting wallbeneath each of said oven chambers and heating walls; and combustionmedia supplying means for said flame flues comprising regeneratorsside-by-side between the supporting Walls and rich gas ducts extendingvertically through certain supporting walls between the regenerators,the regenerators and rich gas ducts being operatively disposed in twosets operable in alternation with each other for concurrent inflow tothe flame `flues of one heating wall and outflow from the flame flues ofthe other heating wall of the `respective heating flue systems, each ofthe flame flues being communicably connected with two regenerators thatare contiguous to each other along the battery and adapted to p heat airand fuel gas separately and simulta eously, respectively, and each richgas duct communicating with a. flame flue and being located between tworegenerators that are contiguous to each other along the battery andthat communicate with the same flame flue with which the rich for thebattery including the two sets of regenerators and rich gas ducts forthe battery being so arranged and connected with the flame flues of theseveral heating flue systems as to provide combustion immediatelyadjacent to both sides of the middle oven chamber within each group ofthree oven chambers which alternate with four consecutive heating wallson one regenerative period and waste gas flow on both sides of saidmiddle oven chamber on a next succeeding regenerative reversal period.

2. In a coking retort oven battery, a series of alternate horizontalcoking chambers and heating walls therefor arranged side-by-side in arow, each of said heating walls comprising a series of vertical flameflues; cross-over flues communicably connecting the flame flues of eachof said heating walls in series with the flame flues of an adjacentheating wall so as to connect alternate and intermediate heating wallsinto independently regulable heating flue systems; a supporting wallbeneath each of said ovenchambers and heating walls; combustion mediasupplying means for said flame flues comprising regenerators sideby-sidebetween the supporting walls and rich gas ducts extending verticallythrough certain supporting walls between the regenerators and each ofsaid gas ducts being individual to one of the vertical flues andcontrolling means for regulating gas flow therethrough from beneath thebattery structure; and access passageways beneath the latter foroperation of said controlling means; the regenerators and rich gas ductsof the supplying means being operatively disposed in two sets operablein alternation with each other for concurrent inflow to flame flues ofone heating wall and outflow from the flame flues of the other heatingwall of the respective heating flue systems, each of the flame fluesbeing communicably connected with two regenerators that are contiguousto each other along the battery and adapted to preheat air and fuel gasseparately and simultaneously, respectively, and that are optionallyoperable jointly for preheating air for combustion of rich fuel gas fromthe rich gas ducts, and each rich gas duct communicating with a flameflue and being located between two regenerators that are contiguous toeach other along the battery and that communicate with the same flameflue with which the rich gas duct communicates, and the supplying meansfor the battery including the two sets of regenerators and rich gasducts for the battery being so arranged and connected with the flameflues of the several heating systems as to provide combustionimmediately adjacent to both sides of the middle oven chamber of anygroup of three oven chambers which alternate with four consecutiveheating walls on one regenerative period and waste gas flow on bothsides of said middle oven chamber on a next succeeding regenerativereversal period.

JOSEPH BECKER.

